Baba Ghanouj
Dana Treat Original
Makes about 2 cups

Almost all recipes you see for both hummus and baba ghanouj call for garlic. I don’t add any to mine because I really don’t like the bite of raw garlic, but feel free to add it if you like. 1-2 cloves would be right for this amount. I like my baba ghanouj very smooth but you can leave it chunkier.

3 lbs. globe eggplant
3-4 tbsp. olive oil
4 tbsp. tahini
1 tsp. ground cumin
Juice of 1-2 lemons
1 tsp. salt
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut each eggplant in half and drizzle with olive oil. Place cut side down on a baking sheet and bake until completely soft, about 1 hour. Remove from oven and allow to cool enough to handle.

Over the bowl of a food processor, scrape the eggplant flesh out of the skin and discard the skin. Add the tahini, lemon juice, salt, cumin, salt, and cayenne and start to blend. Add the olive oil through the tube of the processor until you have a paste-like consistency. Stop, scrape down the sides and taste, adjusting seasoning as necessary, and adding pepper. Process one more time.